CAE

CAE Inc. (formerly Canadian Aviation Electronics) is a Montréal-based flight simulation and training company and Canada’s largest military firm.

Since 2015, CAE has worked in close cooperation with the Canadian Armed Forces to operate the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program out of its training facilities in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and Cold Lake, Alberta.

The company also has significant political connections in Canada. In 2006, the Conservative Party chose the former head of CAE, Derek Burney, to oversee the transfer of power from Paul Martin’s Liberals. Former Vice President of CAE, Arthur C. Perron, was a member of the committee that doled out Security Defense Forum funds to Canadian universities.

However, 90 percent of CAE’s revenues are derived internationally, with the company winning billions of dollars in foreign military contracts. A beneficiary of increased Canadian military spending, CAE operates military pilot training facilities across the globe. In addition to Canadians, CAE technology has been used to train US, British, and Royal Saudi Air Force fighter pilots. 

In Israel, CAE has provided technology used to trained Israeli military personnel to operate “next-generation combat aircraft” and UH-60 and CH-53 helicopters that were used in the 2008-09 attack on Gaza, which left 1,400 Palestinian civilians dead. Additionally, CAE “signed a strategic teaming agreement” to become “the preferred simulation and mission training solution provider” for Israel’s Aeronautics Defense Systems, which produced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for the Israeli military. CAE also works in cooperation with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to develop embedded training solutions and virtual training systems.